


Through the Years

by dustmotes



Series: Threads [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Comfort, F/M, Hurt, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-22
Updated: 2016-06-06
Packaged: 2018-06-10 02:36:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6935326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dustmotes/pseuds/dustmotes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alina Knight never thought she would ever fall in love with her best friend. But when war threatens her peaceful life, she must come to terms with his choice to enlist and the consequences of that choice that will tear both of them apart and change their lives forever.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Alina stood in the study of her parent’s house thumbing through one of her father’s books. She smiled to herself as she put the book down on a small mahogany side table and looked out at the bustling foot traffic walking past the brown stone. She had just arrived back from a finishing school in Boston and after her talk with her parents she would be going into the city to meet with Bucky and Steve, her two best friends whom she had grown up with. The last time she had seen both of them together was very briefly at Steve’s mother’s funeral two years before. Now, it was 1943 and war had come to America. The smile fell from the petite redhead’s face at the thought. Bucky had enlisted the summer before according to one of Steve’s letters and now Rogers was trying his luck as many times as possible to try and enlist.  
“Why does war and death appeal to men?” Alina sighed softly to herself as she pushed the net curtains back from the window and watched the bustling life outside. Her two best friends were adamant they were going to sacrifice themselves for their country and she knew that the possibility of one if not both of them not coming back was very real.  
“Alina.”  
The sound of her mother’s voice calling her pulled her from her morbid thoughts and she turned to smile as her mother and father stepped into the study.  
“How was your trip home, dear?” the stern countenance of her mother didn’t change and Alina bit back a retort along the lines of ‘aren’t you happy to see me mother?’ as she hugged first the tall woman whose eyes, features and drawing ability she had inherited, and then the man whose dark red hair and freckles she had inherited.  
“My trip was fine,” she assured them.  
“Good, good,” her father nodded before excusing himself to draw into the farthest recesses of his study to continue on with some work.  
Meanwhile, Alina followed her mother to the parlour where tea had been set out by their housekeeper. Once both women were seated and each had a delicate china teacup filled with steaming, fragrant tea and set in a matching saucer in their hands, Alina’s mother, Edith, spoke again, “We are having a party on Saturday.”  
Alina smiled politely, “That sounds wonderful, mother.”  
But her mother wasn't listening, “Your father and I have decided to invite Christopher Matherson and his parents. We think the two of you would make a fine couple.”  
Alina’s teacup froze half way to her lips, “What?” she asked on a gasp not quite able to get her head around what her mother had just said.  
Her mother looked at her disapprovingly, “‘What’ is not polite, Alina. I would have thought that two years in an expensive finishing school had made you more refined, obviously I was wrong.”  
Alina put her teacup and saucer down on the coffee table in front of her tempted to smash it to spite the woman sitting opposite her, “You would think that finishing school would calm me down, but probably not when my own parents are in cahoots to try and marry me off like its 1843 instead of 1943. Well, I won’t do it. You can invite whoever you want to this party but I’m bringing a friend and I will not let you marry me off.” Getting up, Alina turned to leave the room, the full skirt of her soft yellow silk dress with black rose patterns swirling around her calves.  
Her mother sighed, “If you insist on acting like a child just promise me you won’t invite that Barnes boy. He’s beneath us and you shouldn’t be associating with him or his sickly friend.”  
Alina bit back an angry retort and left the house silently fuming, only remembering her black clutch purse, black pillbox hat, and dark green cropped cardigan just before she walked out of the front door.  
She hailed a cab at the curb and gave the driver instructions to where she knew Bucky and Steve would be at one in the afternoon on a Saturday, “The picture theatre on Sixth and Lex, please.” She said before sitting back and enjoying the ride into the city.  
She bit her lip remembering the last time she had seen Steve and Bucky. She and Steve had parted on good terms and kept in touch over the two years she had been away, but it was the way she and Bucky had parted that had her nervous.  
The three friends had gone to the Coney Island Amusement Park the weekend before she was to leave for Boston. After a long day of rides, amusement park food and a lot of fun, Bucky had walked over to a vender to buy the final round of candyfloss that Alina could not get enough of. While he was gone, she and Steve had been standing together, talking, only to be interrupted by a pair of rowdy men. They started yelling, picking on Steve until Alina told them to leave and then their attention turned to her in the form of flirting and ribald jokes. That’s when Bucky had stepped in, threw an arm around Alina’s shoulders and asked the men if they had a problem with his girlfriend and his best friend. The bullies turned and left with only a sneer and muttered curses. Alina had instantly stepped out of Bucky’s embrace and declared she wanted to go home. Steve, knowing of her growing feelings for his best friend had only been able to send her a sympathetic look when Bucky had walked him to a cab and then 0ffered to share a cab with Alina to make sure she got home safely.  
The ride in the cab had been silent until Bucky had made a comment about Alina not being able to take care of herself. To which the redhead lost her temper completely and choked out that she didn’t need to be saved and that he should concentrate on his own life instead of hers.  
The rest of the cab ride was deathly silent and emotionally charged. When the yellow cab had pulled up outside Alina’s parents’ brown stone, she had paid her fare and turned to leave the vehicle only to turn and glare at Bucky who was watching her cautiously, “I don’t need to be saved.” She told him again, emphatically, before taking a chance. Leaning into the space between them she fisted his tie and pulled him into a soft kiss that was her very first. She then pulled away and quickly left the cab, all but running up the stairs to her front door and into the house before she saw the disgust she had no doubt was on his face. The redhead didn’t speak to him again and Steve was the only one at the station to see her off to Boston three days later.  
Alina came out of the memory when she felt the cab stop.  
The cabbie turned to her with a smile, “This’ll be your stop, miss.”  
Paying him, Alina stepped out of the yellow vehicle and walked into the lobby of the newest picture theatre in Bucky and Steve’s Brooklyn neighbourhood. She held her head high and went to the see how long was left of the newest action film. The cashier checked his watch and told her that the film should be over in about five minutes.  
Thanking him she paid for a small box of Milk Duds and slipped it into her purse before using the restroom quickly to check her makeup and then she walked out into the lobby to sit and wait for the audience to exit the film while she ate her sweets and drew in the small notebook she always carried with her.  
When the cinema doors opened she stood up and searched the faces of the leaving patrons for her friends. She caught sight of Steve first. Even with his small stature she could always pick him out of a crowd because of his open, kind face. He waved when he saw her. And then her heart stuttered in her chest at the sight of the tall man beside him. In the two years she had been gone, Bucky had changed; his hair was shorter on the sides, he was clean shaven, dressed in slacks, a tie and a brown blazer. He looked more mature, even held himself differently. Gone was the cocky twenty-four year old with no direction in life and not a care in the world. In his place stood a man of twenty-six who knew who he was and what he was going to do. A thrill went through her when his shocking blue gaze caught her grey eyes. With a motion to her to get Steve’s attention, the two men made their way toward her.  
“Alina? I didn’t know you were back.” Steve said with an ecstatic smile as soon as he and Bucky were close enough.  
The beautiful redhead smiled as she hugged him, her two inch heels giving her the extra height to make her equal with him. When they separated she looked up at Bucky shyly not knowing what to expect. They watched each other for a moment before she was enveloped in a warm hug, his strong arms and scent wrapping around her. The rough material of his jacket rubbed against her cheek and she had to fight back tears at the feel of him holding her for a few moments more than necessary.  
When the two stepped apart Steve smiled hugely. “Want to go get a soda at the Shoppe across the street?” he asked her. “I’ll buy you a chocolate malt.”  
Alina returned his smile gratefully, “That sounds wonderful, Steve,” she looked up at Bucky, “What about you, Serge? Are you coming too?”  
Bucky smiled the goofy smile she had fallen for years before, “A soda sounds great,” he offered his arm to Alina and the trio made their way out of the theatre and onto the curb outside, “Then you can tell us all about your time in a finishing school.” He screwed up his face, “On second thought, I don’t know if I want to hear about finishing school.”  
Alina shared a shake of the head with Steve before looking up at Bucky once more, “You might like to go there one day, it’ll probably instil some manners in you.”  
“Hasn’t seemed to help you,” Bucky teased as Steve held the door of the Malt Shoppe open for the three to walk in.  
“Go find a table.” Steve told them before going off to order three chocolate malts.  
Bucky pulled the chair out for her when they found a small table near the door of the busy shop.  
“How have you been?” Alina asked him when he folded his tall frame into the small chair opposite her, “Really,” She added knowing he would sugar-coat anything and everything to protect her if he felt he needed to.  
Flashing that grin at her again, Bucky lounged a little in the chair and studied her for a moment. Patting self-consciously at her curled hair and pinned black hat, she blushed prettily.  
“What?” she asked narrowing her eyes at him.  
Bucky smiled, shaking his head, “You haven’t changed in two years. How’s that possible, Lina?”  
The sound of the nickname only he used slipping so easily from his lips had Alina blushing furiously, “I have changed, you’ll see. And when you do nothing’s going to be the same.” She said sadly.  
Bucky sat up and leant forward, elbow on the table, “Not happening, Lina,” he told her firmly. “I won’t let it.”  
She looked up at him from under her eyelashes, “Promise?”  
He looked her right in the eye and nodded, “I swear, Lina.”  
She nodded and the moment passed. Steve came back with a server in tow, their drinks on her tray. She smiled seductively at Bucky as she set down the malt in front of him and then sashayed away.  
Steve raised his eyebrows at that, “How do you do that?” he asked his best friend.  
“What?” Bucky asked oblivious as he stirred his drink before taking a sip.  
Alina laughed, “Don’t try and act all innocent, we both know that you know what we’re talking about.”  
Bucky only shrugged, grinned crookedly and then launched into a list of questions about Alina’s time away including if she had seen a game at Fenway Park.  
This question brought on a disbelieving discussion from Steve about her being at finishing school, not on vacation. Soon all Alina had to do was sit back, drink her malt, and listen to her two best friends bicker.  
Half an hour or so later, Steve begged off, saying that he had picked up an extra shift at the bank till where he worked. Hugging Alina once more he left the Malt Shoppe.  
Bucky suggested a walk to the park a few blocks over and Alina agreed not ready to go home just yet. And so she found herself on Bucky’s arm walking around the park in the warmth of the two o’clock sun.  
“So you’re saying you never saw a game at Fenway?” the dark haired man at her side asked.  
Alina laughed and shook her head, “Of course not. Proper young ladies don’t go and sit in the stands of a baseball stadium and scream for their favourite team.” She intoned mimicking the tone and inflections of her mother.  
Bucky faked a shudder. “Promise me you won’t do that again,” he muttered leading them over to a park bench to sit down.  
Alina grinned and dug her half-finished box of milk duds out of her purse.  
“How do you eat so many sweets?” Bucky asked her declining the offered treat.  
The redhead tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and shrugged, totally relaxed, “I don’t know. How do you drink so much soda?” she asked knowing of his weakness for the fizzy drink.  
Bucky leaned back on the bench and stretched his arm along the back of the bench, his fingers absently playing with one of Alina’s curls, “Fair enough, you win.” He smiled down at her before his face became serious, “About the last time we saw each other…”  
Alina was shaking her head before he had even finished, “Can we just forget that? I was angry and said and did some really stupid things. I don’t want to lose our friendship over something like that.” She looked at him pleadingly.  
“Yeah,” he said a little reluctantly before lightening the mood with a joke, “You did flip your wig.”  
Alina blushed again and smacked his arm before smiling herself. They laughed together and she relaxed beside him, her milk dud packet and purse between them on the seat and Bucky’s fingers still gently playing with her hair. In the silence she took out her sketch book and continued on with a drawing she had started a few days before.  
“You gonna show me that or what?” Bucky asked a few minutes later.  
She looked over at him and handed over the small book. He took a few moments to study the sketches inside.  
“These are really great, Lina,” he told her. “Think you could do one for me in my uniform for my Ma?”  
She nodded before asking, “Are you on active duty yet?” At the sly look on his face she backtracked quickly blushing furiously for the second time that day, “I-I didn’t mean…Oh god.” She buried her face in her hands no doubt smudging her makeup but after that little slip up she didn’t really care.  
“Lina,” Bucky laughed trying to get her to look at him again, “Lina, its fine. I know what you meant.”  
“Yeah, so the look you just gave me wasn’t cheeky?” she asked her voice muffled by her hands.  
Bucky’s voice became firm, “Alina. It’s fine.”  
She looked up at him and took a breath before asking the question again, “Do you know when you’ll be called for active duty?”  
His vibrant blue eyes were messing up her thoughts again but she managed to catch his answer, “Not sure. Probably any day now if the reports from the front are true,” his tone was careful and she knew he was protecting her again.  
Looking down at her clasped hands sitting in her lap, she tried to memorize the feeling of him so close to her, the sound of his breathing, the feel of his fingers in the curl he was still playing with, and the scent of him that would swirl around her every once in a while when the breeze slipped by them, “I told you that you don’t have to protect me, Bucky. I can cope with whatever you know.”  
His thumb and forefinger caught her chin and he lifted her face so that she was looking at him once again, “What if I want to protect you from it?” he asked his voice controlled as if he was holding something back.  
Searching his face, Alina bit her lip somehow drawing his gaze to her mouth, “My parents are having a party in a few days.” She blurted out.  
He looked confused for a moment before he smiled and let go of her chin. “Sounds boring,” he told her.  
Alina huffed, “They’re inviting this completely boring boy and his family to it so that we can meet and hopefully get married in the future.” She sighed. “I said I was bringing a friend and if you’re that adamant about protecting me do you want to be my date and save me from this boy?” she blurted the last sentence so that she wouldn't chicken out and not ask him.  
Bucky sat still for a few moments before he asked, “Do I have to wear a suit?”  
Alina grimaced, “Probably. There was a terrible gold and bronze gown hanging in my room when I arrived today so I would say a suit is preferable.”  
He looked to be contemplating the prospect for a second before a smile spread across his lips, “Sounds good.”  
Alina breathed a sigh of relief, “Thank you, Bucky.” She told him.  
He shrugged before standing up, “Let’s get you home before your Mother thinks I’m more of a bad influence than she already does.”  
Packing up her sweets and notebook, the tiny redhead grinned, “That’d be hard to do, you’re already the worst influence in the world.”  
With a cocky smirk, Bucky offered his arm to her once more, “I’ll just have to change her opinion of me at this fancy party of yours then, won’t I?”  
Alina smiled up at him enjoying the easy way they had fallen back into their teasing, “I would love to see that.”


	2. Chapter 2

The day of the party dawned faster than Alina would have liked.  
She spent the morning and afternoon with her mother helping with the preparations before slipping away to her room to get ready. She curled her hair leaving it in gentle waves down her back before applying her makeup, pulling on her dress and shoes and then the jewellery her mother had left out for her to wear. The dress was gold crepe under a rust coloured over-skirt of chiffon, open at the front and draped around the bust area, a belt of rust coloured silk ribbon around the waist and as a halter. Her shoes were gold T-bar peep-toes with two inch heels. The necklace her mother had chosen for her was made of carnelian stones interspersed with deep red zircon stones in a collar that felt like it was choking her even at its loosest. Her mother had also provided a gold cuff with Roman scrolling work and etching on it.  
Finally dressed, she left her room as the guests started to arrive, and found Bucky at the foot of the stairs waiting for her. She smiled up at him when she got to his side.  
“You know, that dress isn’t half as awful as you said it was,” he told her with a crooked grin.  
Alina shook her head, “You’re just saying that. It’s orange for goodness sake,” she muttered softly so that only he could hear as she took his arm and he led her into the sitting room where the other guests were mingling.  
Ignoring her mother’s thinly veiled disappointed looks, the two friends walked around the room greeting guests but never straying too far from one another, and as soon as the Mathersons walked into the room, Bucky excused himself from the conversation he had been drawn into on the merits of war by her father and a friend and moved to Alina’s side, his hand coming up to press to the small of her back.  
“That him?” he asked seeing the slight panic on her face.  
She nodded studying Christopher. He was slightly taller than Bucky, about six foot if not a little more, blond hair parted neatly to the side, light blue eyes and dressed in the latest fashion, he would be a man any girl her age would love to have but for Alina he just wasn't Bucky.  
“Looks like a-,” Bucky started.  
“Alina!” her mother called from the other side of the room, interrupting whatever insult Bucky was about to throw out.  
Shrinking back against his side, the small redhead bit her lip only to have him bend down and whisper in her ear, “Go on. I’ll save you if he gets down on one knee and proposes right here.”  
She cut her eyes at him, “Don’t even joke about that, Serge,” she hissed trying to ignore the goose-bumps that spread across her skin at the feel of his warm breath brushing against her ear and neck before she squared her shoulders, stood as tall as her five-two frame would allow, and strode gracefully over to be introduced to the Mathersons by her mother.  
He was as boring and self-absorbed as she feared. Forced to sit beside him at dinner and as far away from Bucky as her mother could physically organise, Alina had to sit through his many narcissistic stories and his complete disregard for anyone of a lower social standing. The final straw for Bucky came when, as the party was sitting around the living room with after dinner drinks, Christopher made a joke about the lower class in Brooklyn enjoying their living conditions because they knew no better. Even Alina’s father looked shocked at the comment and Bucky stood up and excused himself, no doubt to have a sneaky cigarette out on the front steps, a stress-relief habit Alina remembered he had taken up when he left school to go to work after his father’s death.  
“Can I talk to you?” Alina tore her gaze from Bucky’s retreating form to the handsome but obnoxious man sitting beside her, “Preferably alone,” he added.  
“Of course,” Edith nodded from her seat next to the couple before ushering both young people into the dining room across the hall.  
Alina braced herself for whatever was to come next as her mother closed the door to give them privacy. The older woman was no doubt listening on the other side, however.  
She turned to the blond man expecting another barrage of egotistical stories only to freeze as he pulled out a small velvet box and opened it to reveal a large diamond ring sitting in the silk interior. It looked like an eye with a large diamond in the middle, a small diamond on either side, and a curved line of small diamonds above and below the middle row. It was all set in what she could only guess was platinum. Her whole body was unresponsive as the tall man in front of her pulled the ring out of the box, caught her left hand and slid the heavy piece of jewellery onto her ring finger. He then launched into another monologue but this time she didn’t even pretend to listen, instead she imagined her life with him: it would be safe, no knowledge of the harsh world outside, and she would never want for anything. Except love.  
“…and you should see this as the amazing prospect it is. After all, I'm probably your only choice,” he was saying.  
“What?” Alina breathed, or tried to, her lungs felt as if they were being squeezed by her ribcage.  
Christopher looked put out that she hadn’t been listening, “You could use some manners.” He muttered.  
Alina stepped back from him, pulling her hand from his, anger starting to bubble up in her chest, “You insult my friend, you know nothing of the world and yet you think you can grandstand, you push a ring onto my finger without a proposal and think I’ll say yes, and you say I need manners!” she gasped out her lungs still not working right in her chest. Lifting her chin she glared at him, “Find another girl to marry.” She snapped before turning on her heel and pulling the door open.  
Her mother stumbled back from where she had been listening in to the conversation, “Alina!” she snapped her face turning a horrible pink shade in anger.  
“No, mother,” Alina said her voice calmer than she would have thought possible, “I would rather take my chances out in the city, alone, than marry him.” She ripped the ring from her finger, grabbed her mother’s hand, turned it palm-up and dropped the heavy thing into her hand. Closing her mother’s long fingers around it she looked up with tear-filled eyes, “If you loved me you wouldn't want me to marry someone like him.” She whispered so that only the other woman could hear. Turning on her heel, the small redhead gathered up her skirts and all but ran to the front door, her mother on her heels.  
Bucky was just coming back inside. Alina grabbed his hand and pulled him along behind her as her mother called for her to stop. Bucky must have turned back and seen her mother waving the engagement ring because he swore quickly and then laced his fingers with Alina’s taking the lead out of the house.  
Once outside they stopped on the sidewalk, “Take me away from here, Bucky.” Alina whispered tearfully her head pounding with what had just happened.  
Grim-faced, her friend nodded and lead her away from the house. They walked for a few yards before Alina realised she was gasping for breath. Bucky heard her and turned, alarmed.  
“Hey, hey.” He said catching her by the shoulders, “Breathe, Lina.”  
She shook her head, tears sliding fast and thick down her cheeks, “They don’t even care that he wouldn't love me,” She gasped out her lungs tightening inside her once again.  
Bucky’s face hardened and he pulled her into an alleyway between two brown stones. Before Alina could say anything else, he had her pressed up against the alley wall, his arm around her waist and one hand cradling her cheek, his lips pressed to hers and she melted against him.  
He tasted of cigarette smoke, the brandy he had been sipping with her father before he left the house, and of her salty tears. Slowly he broke the kiss, pulling away until only his forehead was resting against hers. She opened her eyes hesitantly scared that at any moment he was going to pull away and leave her like he had done two years before.  
The tension between them broke at his next words, “Hi sugar, are you rationed?”  
She smiled and then giggled, cupping his face in her hands as she looked up into his sharp gaze, “I’m not sure. What do you say, Serge?”  
Bucky smirked, “You better be or I’m gonna have to start punching in some teeth.”  
Alina’s smile faded slowly, “I can’t go back, Bucky. She was just going to let him put a ring on my finger and claim me after meeting me just once.” Shivering she shook her head, tears filling her eyes once more.  
“Then don’t go back. Steve’s got an extra room.” He said unbuttoning his jacket, shrugging out of it and wrapping it around her shoulders.  
She thanked him quietly before giving him a look, “Board with Steve? Do want me to be the talk of New York?” she pressed her cheek to his shoulder, snuggling into him needing the comfort and warmth he provided.  
Bucky wrapped his arms around the small woman that fit against him so perfectly and revised his idea, “Then I’ll board with Steve and you can have my room at Ma’s. She’s been saying she hasn’t seen you in years.”  
Alina lifted her gaze to his amazed that he would even want her to think about leaving her family, “But what about my parents?”  
Bucky looked stern, “They wanted to force you into marrying some lounge lizard and you want to go back there?”  
Blushing at his name for Christopher she looked away from his heated gaze, “He’s not like that. He said he was probably my only choice and…” her words were cut off by Bucky’s lips against hers. This kiss was a little harsher and she could tell he was angry.  
When he pulled back they were both breathing hard, “Damn, I’m gonna knock his teeth in. He’s all wet.” He declared before running his hand through her curls, “Doesn’t he know what kind of a dame my girl is?”  
Sighing happily Alina wrapped her hand around his wrist keeping his fingers in her hair as long as possible. “Doesn’t matter,” she murmured feeling tipsy from his few kisses and the touch of his hand in her hair, “Just kiss me again.”  
Bucky was happy to oblige. They broke apart a few minutes later and he led her by the hand out to the sidewalk to hail a cab.  
The rest of the night went quickly with a visit to his mother’s house to set her up in his bedroom, a change of clothes from Bucky’s sister and a call to Steve to let him know that if he wanted Bucky was going to be living with him for the foreseeable future because Alina had left home. Steve had come over as soon as Bucky had explained and listened wide-eyed to Alina’s recount of the night before he had declared that his best friend better take care of her or he’d have him to answer to. Bucky had been surprised that Steve had known before he had told him but the smaller man had just grinned, tapped the side of his nose and told Alina good night. Bucky had quickly grabbed a few changes of clothes and anything else he might need before kissing Alina goodnight and following Steve out into the night to catch a cab to his friend’s apartment.


	3. Chapter 3

Alina slept well for the first time in a long time, waking up refreshed and smiling. Bucky’s younger sisters and brother were all excited to see her and tried to skive off school on the excuse that it was her first day as their new honorary sister. Their mother, however, made sure they were all out the door in time to walk to school and then set about cleaning the house with Alina’s help.  
She quickly became a part of his family and easily slipped into his life in her new role as his steady girlfriend. They went out on dates and with groups of their friends but they always spent time with Steve, the three of them getting along easily even though she and Bucky were an item.  
A few months later Bucky got to his mother’s house after a week away at an army training camp outside the city he leaned in the doorway of the sitting room and watched Alina bent over the torn skirt of his youngest sister, placing neat precise stitches into the material.  
“They taught you that in finishing school, didn’t they?”  
Alina glanced up at him with a smile before going back to her work, “No, my nanny taught me this when I was little. Finishing school only taught me how to sit like a lady and look down my nose at others.”  
“Sounds useful.” The tall man said entering the room fully to hunker down in front of the small redhead, his hands on the arms rests of the wingchair she had chosen to sit in.  
“Mm-hm,” she nodded, tying off the end of her last stitch and snipping off the extra cotton with the small pair of silver sewing scissors in her lap. The task finished she leant over the edge of the chair to put the scissors into his mother’s sewing kit only to have him catch her wrist as she slipped her hand from the carpet bag. Her grey-blue eyes flew to his and he looked at her with something close to worry and something she hadn’t seen from him since his father’s death, fear.  
“What’s wrong?” she asked worried.  
Bucky took a deep breath, letting it out slowly through his nose as he leaned into her, pressing his forehead to hers, “Marry me,” he said after a few moments sitting like that.  
Alina stiffened and pulled away, “What?”  
A quick grin split his face at her response that was so typically her before he cupped her cheek, his fingers sliding into her loose curls, “They told us today that in the next few months we’re gonna ship out. I don’t know exactly when but I know that I want you to be my wife before I go,” his eyes searched her face trying to see what her response would be.  
Alina forced back tears as the news of his impending departure to the front line washed over her, “Bucky,” she whispered, wrapping her hand around his wrist and leaning her forehead against his, eyes closed. She was silent for what felt like forever to him before she whispered her answer, “Yes.”  
He tensed for a beat before he pulled her into his arms, his mouth slanting over hers, his kiss stealing her breath. When he pulled back it was to see tears in her eyes, “What’s this, Lina sweetheart, crying for your soldier?” he murmured tucking some of her hair back behind her ear.  
She shook her head, “You have to promise me you’ll come back. I don’t think I’d be able to survive it if you didn’t.”  
“I’d be stupid not to come back for you, doll.” He grinned playfully. He pulled her to her feet and led her over to the couch, pulling her down to sit curled into his side he tucked her head beneath his chin and wrapped his arms around her, “I don’t have a ring for you yet,” he admitted a little annoyed at himself.  
“I don’t need a ring, Bucky,” she told him.  
He sighed, “You deserve one, though, Lina.”  
She pulled back to look up at him, “Oh, what a line, Serge. I bet you say that to all the girls,” she grinned before curling into him again knowing he was going to get her a ring whether she thought she needed one or not, he was stubborn like that.  
“When do you want to get married?” he asked after they had been sitting quietly for a while.  
Alina smiled, “As soon as possible,” she told him.  
“Next week sound good, doll?” he asked a smile in his voice.  
She once again pushed back to look at him only to see him serious even in his teasing. “Really?” she asked.  
“Really.”  
A wide smile spread across her face and she leaned up and kissed him, the first time she had ever initiated a kiss and he seemed to like it. But she was too excited to stay still. Getting up she moved to the door.  
“Hey, where are you off to? I thought we were enjoying some peace and quiet before the monsters get back from school,” Bucky pouted on the couch.  
Alina smiled and turned to look at him, “I can’t sit there all afternoon no matter how much I want to, there’s so much to get organised and I need to get my dress and sort out who my maid of honour will be,” she did a small spin her hands clasped in front of her and a radiant smile on her face, “I love you.” She told him.  
Bucky grinned from where he was lounging on the couch watching his girl smile more than he had ever seen, “Love you too, Lina,” he told her before she skipped over to him, pressed a kiss to his mouth and then rushed out of the room to find his mother and start organising the wedding.  
Bucky was reluctantly dragged into the preparations and decided on Steve as his best man. Alina chose the oldest of Bucky’s two younger sisters to be her maid of honour with his mother signing as a witness with Steve and his youngest sister and little brother as flower girl and page boy respectively. The church and church hall near them was booked with the wedding moved back by only a week because of availability. The hall was decorated in blue the colour of Bucky’s eyes (although Alina would never tell anyone that this was the reason that shade of blue was her favourite), and the dresses of the maid of honour and flower girl were made in the same colour. Friends and family brought food for the reception and Alina’s parents both turned up on the day with her father walking her down the aisle and her mother being at least cordial to everyone.  
Alina’s dress was made of white satin, with a tie neck, short sleeves, and a hemline that ended mid-calf. Her fascinator was of blue silk crisscrossed over the top of her head with a white silk rose over her right ear and a blue netting veil, it was a gift from her soon to be mother-in-law and had been worn by Bucky’s mother for her own wedding. She wore white leather oxfords with silk ribbons instead of laces, a gift from her parents; as was the nightdress she would wear on her wedding night.  
Bucky grinned from the end of the aisle at her as she walked toward him, her father cried as he gave her away, and Alina had to fight back happy tears at the sight of the two rings the pastor blessed before he gave them over to Bucky to slip onto her ring finger. Her new husband had bought not only a rose gold wedding band etched with small flowers, but also an engagement ring in yellow gold set with five small round diamonds.  
“You may kiss your bride,” the pastor intoned after the vows were said and the registry signed.  
Bucky pulled Alina against his chest and kissed her for all he was worth. The sound of applause broke them apart and Alina blushed prettily as she smiled up at her new husband. The reception seemed to fly by with congratulations and laughter ringing through the church hall. Alina was just happy her mother seemed to welcome Bucky. The tall, graceful woman looked to be mollified by the way her new son-in-law treated her only child and the way his family had included her daughter as their own kin.  
Before she knew it, Alina was getting into a car with Bucky and they were off to a surprise location only he knew. The car pulled up outside a small apartment building a few blocks from Steve’s neighbourhood. She looked up at the building as Bucky parked next to the sidewalk and then they got out of the car and walked into the large apartment block.  
“Why are we here, Bucky?” she asked him softly, her hand held in one of his with their bags in his other hand.  
He grinned at her over his shoulder before stopping outside the second door on the first floor. Dropping her hand he pulled a key from his pocket and unlocked the front door. He then ushered her inside and closed the door behind them, flicking on the light switch beside the door. “Welcome to your new home, Mrs. Barnes,” he murmured in her ear before pressing a kiss to her cheek.  
She turned to him with an excited smile, “This is really our new home?”  
He put their bags down and held out a hand to her, “Want to go check it out?”  
With an ecstatic laugh, Alina grabbed his hand and let him lead her further into their apartment. It was fully furnished and set up, “Who…?” she asked turning to look at Bucky.  
“Who do you think, Lina? Your parents wanted to try and make up for things. They furnished it but we own the deed,” he stepped closer to her and murmured, “Welcome home, Mrs Barnes.”  
Alina smiled softly and pushed up onto tip-toe, wrapping her arms around her husband’s shoulders before pressing her lips to his.  
Bucky kissed her gently before pulling back briefly and then slanting his mouth over hers. He had put their bags in the master bedroom half way through their tour and now he wrapped his arms around her and lifted her off her feet. She broke the kiss with a small laugh before letting him capture her lips again. A few minutes later he led her into their room. Alina changed into the nightdress her mother had bought her in the en suit while Bucky took off his suit in the bedroom.  
The nightgown was made of delicate chiffon that reached her ankles. It was belted at the waist by a pale pink ribbon and the straps were of the same colour ribbon. The bodice looked to be almost made of lace.  
Nervously, the small redhead pulled the pins from her hair and washed her makeup off. Once she was ready she took a breath, her hand on the handle of the bathroom door, before she twisted it and pushed the door open, stepping into the next room where Bucky stood waiting for her.


End file.
